The Uncharted Video Game Series Is Definitely Not Done

Whilst Uncharted 4 saw the end of Nathan Drake’s story – Naughty Dog isn’t quite done with the Uncharted franchise just yet. With a movie in the works and more chapters in the Uncharted world planned, the developers have more stories to tell. The latest game, The Lost Legacy, will instead focus on two fan-favorite characters from previous games in the series. Nadine Ross and Chloe Frazer will partner together as a new adventure unfolds.

Lost Legacy won’t see an appearance of Drake, to preserve Uncharted 4‘s ending, but Naughty Dog are well and truly invested in keeping the world alive. And with the exploration of new characters, archeological sites and islands, there’s still plenty of content to keep the franchise alive and kicking. Although it was originally planned as a DLC chapter, The Lost Legacy evolved into something a little bigger. The new game won’t cost as much as Uncharted 4 did, but it’s still a full game.

In an interview with Eurogamer at E3, Shaun Escayg, TheLost Legacy‘s creative director, discussed the future of the franchise away from Nathan Drake and the drive to tell more stories from the thieving world. Naughty Dog have always had the idea that The Lost Legacy would focus on a partnership, originally revolving around Sully and Cutter. But eventually, Chloe Frazer was the character that kept appealing to the developers. And whilst The Lost Legacy will throw Chloe and Nadine into dangerous new situations, Naughty Dog seem keen to keep all their content as fresh as possible.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the end. This thieving world is huge. There’s so many characters. Even before we settled on this particular story we were exploring Sullivan, we were exploring Cutter, and pairing each other up, thinking what would be right, what would have conflict, growth, something new, something fresh. And Chloe was the one that kept jumping out. But to say the Uncharted world is done… I doubt that highly.”

Escayg also went on to say that whilst Naughty Dog has yet to jump into the fully open-world trend most developers are embracing currently, there are aspects and levels in the new chapter of the Uncharted series that allow players to explore and take their time with. But that begs the question, if they’re already experimenting with larger world building, is it possible that an open-world Uncharted game could be on the cards in the future? Escayg thinks that at some point it’ll happen.

“The future is uncertain there – we’re always testing it. There’s a segment in Lost Legacy similar to [Uncharted 4’s] Madagascar where you can choose to explore and see different areas at different times, experience it differently. When we find a way to do things in an open world I think we’ll definitely venture there at some point.”

The Lost Legacy is definitely not the end of the Uncharted series, and even if we never see Nathan Drake in the franchise again, it looks like Naughty Dog still have plenty of stories up their sleeve to tell. A game with Sully and Cutter was already discussed, it’s possible that they could be the focus of the next instalment, only time will tell.